Seed-cotton-drying apparatus



Dec. 1"'8', T928;

C. A. BENNETT SEED COTTON DRYING APPARATUS Filed March 22, 1928 ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 1.8, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

CHARLES ABEL BENNETT, OF TALLULAH, LOUISIANA, DEDICATED, BY ASSIGNMENT, TO THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE 0F THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

SEED-COTTON-DRYING APPARATUS.

, Application filed March 22, 1928. Serial No. 263,811.5

`(GRANTED UNDER THE ACT F MARCH 3, 1883.)

This application is made under thc act of March 3,1883, chapter 143 (22 Stat. 625) and the invention herein described and claimed may be used by the Government of the United States or any of its officers or. employees in the prosecution of work for the government, or any person in the United States, without payment to me of any royalty hereon.

My invention relates to 'improvements in drying apparatus for seed-cotton in which vertically traveling trays loaded with seedcotton are subjected to direct penetration by currents of heated atmosphere; and the objects of my invention are to provide a con.-

tinuous process for drying damp or wet seedcotton in quantities commensurate with established capacities of cotton gins; second to provide apparatus suitable for the dryingl method claimed by me in an application filed concurrently herewith; third, to provide an apparatus using only parts and materials such as may be purchased in the openmarket;

and fourth, to provide an apparatus of sim-' ple construction and durability which may be operated by unskilled labor on any cotton plantation or at any cotton gin.

I attain theseobjects by the cotton drying apparatus illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section of the entire machine (except the fan and heater members) Figure 2 is a plan View of the machine with cross-section4 as it appears on the section line 2-2 in Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the traveling trays or screened frames, showing one method for attaching said trays to thel endless conveyor chains.

Similar numbers refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to thedrawing it will be seen that my drying apparatus comprises a vcrtical cabinet assembly 3 supported upon the floor and having a top space 3, a bottom space 3b, a front space 3F and a rear space 3R defined within said vertical cabinet assembly by the sides 3e, the front face 3d, the rear face 3c and the center box 3. The cabinet assembly 3 is further comprised of a cot-tonl inlet 1, a cotton feeding device 5, a cotton chute 2, distributor strips 16, cotton spreader 2, a cotton discharge hopper 4, a cotton discharging device 5', a cotton outlet 17, heatedatmosphere inlet grilles 9 and 9', and heated atmosphere outlet or discharge grilles 10 and 10.

The vertical cabinet assembly 3 issubstantlally air-tight at the cotton inlet 1 by use 4of the revolving feeding device 5 and said cabinet is likewise substantially airtight at the cotton discharge hopper 4 and cotton outlet 17 by use of the revolving discharging device 5. The cotton chute 2 is connected by suitable means to the rear face 3 of the cabinet vassembly 3 in an air-tight junction, and the heated-atmosphere trunk 6 is likewise attached in an air-tight manner by suitable means to the front face 3d of said cabinet assembly 3.

The heated-atmosphere inlet grilles or screens 9 and 9 are disposed by lsuitable means in the plane of the front face 3d of .the cabinet 3, and the heated-atmosphere outlet grilles or screens 10 and 10 are disposed by suitable means in the planes of the rear face 3c and the sides 3e respectively of the cabinet assembly 3.

The rotary valves or devices 5 and 5 are `of the conventional paddle-wheel construction used Kin cotton ginning machinery for handling cotton without loss of air. The rotary valve 5 may be incorporated between the cotton inlet l and the cotton chute 2 as shown or it may be incorporated in cotton gin feeding devices (not shown) in which case the cotton inlet l would be a substantially airtight connection between the cotton chute 2 and the cotton gin feeding device (not shown).

The rotary valves or vdevices 5 and 5 are revolved or driven from conventional sources f of power (not shown) such as line shaft and belt, or chains and sprockets, connected by suitable means to some prime mover.

At the base of the cotton chute 2 distributor strips 16 are disposed by suitable means to spread the incoming seed-cotton across the l entire Width of the rear space 3R of the 'cabinet 3; and as a further assistant to this distribution in a uniform manner the cotton spreader 2 may be utilized by suitable means. The spreader 2 may be either a spiked cylinder or a series of spiders disposed upon the central shaft 2a which revolves in bearings (not shown) attached by suitable means to the sides 3e of the cabinet assembly 3. Power for rotating the feeder 2 is preferably provided from a line shaft (not shown) by means of belts and pulleys (not shown). The center box 3 .within thevvertical cabinet assembly 3 is attached by suitable means to the sides 3e of the cabinet 3 and extends vertically from the lower shaft 15 of the endless conveyor assembly to the upper shaft 15 thereof so as to form a substantially air-tight division wall between the front space 3F of the cabinet 3 and the rear space 3R thereof.

The endless conveyor assembly comprises the shafts 15 and 15 to which are'attached the sprockets 13 upon which said sprockets the endless chains 13 are conveyed. The shafts 15 and 15 revolve in bearings (not shown, which are attacliedby suitable means to the sides 3e of the cabinet 3. Power for driving the endless conveyor assembly is furnished by the belt-and-pulley combination 15a connected to shaft 15, or by an adjustable speed gearing device (not shown) which furnishes'power to said belt-an'd-pulley combination 15a by a line shaft (not shown) or by some other conventional source of power (not shown).

Mounted upon the endless conveyor chains 13 is a series of trays 11 or skeleton frames which are provided either with perforated plate faces (not shown) or with screened faces 12 as shown. Attachment of the trays 11 to' the chains 13 is preferably accomplished by use of plates 11a, swivel pins 14', braces 14 and special attachment links 13a which special links 13a are disposed at suitable intervals in the endless chains 13. The swivel pins 14 are suiiiciently free in their installation to allow the trays 11 and the chains 13 to make the turns about the shafts 15 and 15 as the conveyor assembly travels around these said shafts at the bottom 3b and top 3a respectively of the cabinet 3.-

The braces 14 are used to secure ample supporting of the trays 11 when loaded upon the screens 12 with seed-cotton, but said braces 14 may be omitted if. certain styles of special attachment links (not shown) are preferred in lieu of the links 13a and the braces 14.

Direction of travel of the endless conveyor assembly and it-s series of trays 11 is upward or ascending within the rear space 3R of the cabinet 3, thence clockwise as shown in Figure 1 at the change of direction about shaft 15 at the top space 3n of the said cabinet 3, thence down or descending Within the front space 3F of saidcabinet 3, and thence clockwise as shown in Figurel at the change of direction about shaft'15 at the bottom space 3'J of said .cabinet 3. It will be evident from the description of the construction of the trays 11 that either surface of the screened faces 12 may be utilized as a carrying surface for seed-cotton, and that such screened sur- -faces 12 will permit currents of heated atmosphere to penetrate directly through said traveling tray loads of seed-cotton with a minimum of interference.

The fan 7 is preferablya standard gin fan which handles large volumes of atmosphere readily against high static pressures, and said fan 7 may either draw its atmosphere direct from the surrounding external atmosphere or from various cotton handling equipment (not shown) which may be used as feeders for the dryer as hereinbefore explained. The discharge of the fan 7 delivers atmosphere under static pressure into the heated-atmosphere trunk 6 which is a substantially air-'tight trunk'containing the radiation elements or heaters 8 which may consist either of steam, hot water or furnace radiation. For fire prevention the use of steam radiation is advisable, but furnace radiation may be used if properly installed under certain engineering restrictions.

The heated atmosphere trunk 6 terminates in an air-tight junction with the front face 31 of the cabinet assembly 3 at which plane of intersection are disposed the grilles or screens 9 and 9 for admitting flow of heated atmosphere into the cabinet 3 without permitting loss of cotton therefrom through the aperture occupied by said grilles.

From the foregoing description and drawing it will be seen that the operation of the drying apparatus is very simple.

Damp seed-cotton is introduced through the cotton inlet 1 into the cotton chute 2 without loss of heated atmosphere by means of the revolving cotton feedingdevice 5. At the base of the cotton chute 2 the seed-cotton is distributed by the distributors 16 and the cotton spreader 2 which throws the seedcotton in a thin layer upon the ascending tier of the trays 11 within the rear space 3R of the cabinet assembly 3. As each tray load of seed-cotton arrives at the top 3a of the cabinet 3 each tray 11 is turned over automatically and dumps or discharges its tray load to the screen surface 12 of the tray ahead within the frontv space 3F of the cahinet 3. In this new and re-distributed position the seed-cotton is conveyed upon the descending tier of trays 11 down through the front space 3F to the bottom space 3"' where the automatic turn of the trays 11 about the shaft 15 again automatically dis'- charges the seed-cotton which falls into the cottom discharge hopper 4 whence it passes through the cotton discharging device 5 Without loss of heated atmosphere and is finally disposd of 'at the cotton outlet 17 into bins, wagons or pipes (not shown.)

A continuous delivery of atmosphere is being made by the fan 7 during the drying operation, said atmosphere being delivered into the heated-atmosphere trunk 6, thence through the radiation elements or heaters 8 where it is properly heated as describedV in my drying' process claimed by me in an application SerialiNo. 263,810, tiled concurrently herewith in conjunction with a horizontal seed-cotton dryer. After passing 'through the radiation element-s or heaters 8 the heated atmosphere is delivered into the front space 3F of the cabinet 3 through theY grilles 9 and 9.

At the grilles or screens 9 and 9 the heated atmosphere is divided into two currents whose channels or lines of travel diverge to later rejoin at the outlet grilles or screens ward within front space 31" against the direction of travel of the descending tier of trays 11, thereby penetrating directly through each tray-load of seed-cotton with a tendency to fluff up each layer thus penetrated. This .tluiiing acting is an etlicient assistant in drying the seed-cotton. At the top 3a ofthe cabinet 3 the said atmosphere passes in a counterclockwise direction (see Figure l) and thence flows a short distance downward in the rear space 3R of the cabinet 3 to the outlet grilles or screens 10 and 10 whereD the final discharge of moisture-laden atmosphere is accomplished.

Similarly the current of heated atmosphere which leaves the grille 9 travels to the same outlet grilles 10 and 10', but by the other channel or path which leads downward and through the bottbm space 3b of the cabinet 3 and thence upward throughthe rear space 3R of the said cabinet' to the outlet grilles or screens 10 and 1.0.

I do not recirculate nor re-heat any of the moisture laden atmosphere which has been released through the grilles or screens 10 and l0 because the use of fresh atmosphere is much more efi'icient in the drying process.

It is evident that the currents of heated atmosphere within the cabinet 3 penetrates each and every tray load of seed-cotton exposed within said cabinet 3 and that the tra vel of the seed-cotton from the cotton inletl to the cotton outlet 17 or discharge hopper 4 is such as to secure contacts between the dryest, hottest atmosphere and the of drying'seed-cotton within the limits all as set forth in my claims on said drying method tiled concurrently herewith in another apv plie-ation. l It will be understood that changes or modlications in the different parts my drying apparatus maybe eifected without departinga from the spirit of my invention as hereinbefore claimed.

` I am aware that prior to my invention various driers have been made Which employ heated atmosphere as a drying medium in conjunction with endless conveyors. I therefore do not claim such a combination broadly, but a I claim:

l- A cotton drying apparatus of the character described including an enclosed vertical cabinet with substantially air-t-ight means for introducing and discharging seedcotton therefrom, endless conveyors arranged within said vertical cabinet and provided with a series of perforated trays or skeleton screened frames attached at substantially right angles to said endless conveyors, a partition or center' division centrally located with respect to said vertical cabinet and l0- cated between the shafts of said endless conveyors, means for loading tlie series of skeleton screened frames or trays with seed-cotton, means for conveying said tray loads of seed-cotton from ythe cotton inlet to the cotton discharge outlet, a heated atmosphere generator or radiation elements, inlets and outlets for continuous passage of heated atmosphere through the several passages within the said vert-ical cabinet, means for introducing said heated atmosphere into said vertical cabinet'and discharging heated atmosphere therefrom without loss of seed-cotton, means for rearranging and turning over of the seed-cotton during its passage through the said vertical cabinet, means for securing direct penetrating of the trays of seed-cotton by the currents of heated atmosphere so that the dryest heated atmosphere contacts with the dryest cot-ton, and means for dumping said trays at the conclusion of the drying exposure within the said vertical cabinet.

2'. In a seed-cotton drying apparatus, the combination of an enclosed vert-ical casing having inlets and outlets for seed-cotton and heated atmosphere respectively, a center box or baiiie Wall wit-hin said vertical casing for the purpose of providing two distinct paths of travel for t-he seed-cotton and the heated atmosphere respectively, an endless vertical conveyor Within said vertical casing having perforated trays or skeleton screened frames arranged to travel in two tiers within the paths of travel hereinbefore mentioned, an ascending tier of trays or frames for receiving the incoming damp seed-cotton and conducting same to the top of the vertical casing, a descending tier of trays or frames for receiving a turn-over or rearrangement of the seedfcotton and conducting same to the place of cotton discharge from the said cabinet', means for heating atmospherel and introducingfsame in a continuous flow to the interior ofsaid vertical casing, means for equalizing the'volume in the two distinct paths of travel of thev atmosphere within the vertical casing, and means for discharge of said atmosphere from the said casing.

3. An enclosed vert-ical plenum chamber for drying seed-cotton, havingl two distinct paths orl channels of equal area and flowresistance to currents of heated atmosphere, a vertical endless conveyor assembly to travel Within said vertical plenum chamber, one run of said endless conveyor assembly t0'` ascend within one path or channel provided Within said plenum chamber and to receive layers of seed-cotton from a substantially air-tight cotton inlet provided at a location adjacent to the lower portion of said path or channel, one run .of said endless conveyor assembly to descend Within the other of said,

paths or channels and to conduct the seedcotton to the cotton discharge hopper provided at the bottom of the enclosed vertical plenum chamber, means for discharge of the seed-cottonfrom the endless conveyor assembly, means for discharge of the seed-cot'- ton from the vertical plenum chamber Without loss of static pressure or atmosphere from said plenum chamber, means for producing a continuous flowing volume of atmosphere, means for heating and introducing said atmospheric current into said plenum chamber, and means for. discharge of said atmosphere from said plenum chamber after said atmosphere has served its purpose as a drying medium.

CHARLES ABEL BENNETT. 

